LONG BEACH — The Cal State University Board of Trustees on Tuesday approved pay increases for three new campus presidents in a day-long meeting in which they also considered massive budget cuts.

As student and faculty protesters gathered outside, trustees met at the Chancellor's Office in Long Beach to consider plans to offset the 23-campus system's severe budget crisis and a potential $250 million loss in funding. Options include a possible tuition increase, cutbacks in enrollment and system-wide salary and benefit reductions.

On the issue of presidential salaries, the board voted 10-4 in favor of a compensation plan for four incoming presidents.

Two presidents are slated to receive 10 percent raises over their predecessors, while a third will earn 9 percent more. A fourth president will earn 3 percent less.

Faced with public criticism over presidential raises in times of severe budget cuts, the board in May adopted a controversial compensation policy that set a raise cap of 10 percent, but stipulated that the amount of the raise must be paid for by private campus foundations.

CSU Chancellor Charles Reed said the foundations will raise money solely for presidential compensation and no funds will be diverted from student scholarships.

The board approved an annual salary of $324,500 for CSU Northridge President Dianne Harrison, $319,000 for CSU San Bernadino President Tomas Morales and $325,000 for San Francisco State President Leslie Wong.

Admiral Thomas A. Cropper, the new president of Cal Maritime in the Bay Area, will receive a salary of $250,000. All four will receive a $1,000 monthly car allowance.

In response to the public criticism, Reed commended all of the CSU presidents' hard work, noting that San Diego State President Elliot Hirshman, who was criticized when he was hired last year with a $400,000 compensation package, has managed to raise $71 million in donations for the university.

"(Elliot Hirshman) has been criticized and I have been criticized and it is totally wrong," Reed said. "These are tough jobs and we ask these presidents to do the impossible. They work 24/7 and they have outstanding teams."

As trustees met, dozens of student and faculty demonstrators flocked to the meeting to voice their frustrations over budget cuts and tuition hikes.

Among the demonstrators was Cal State Northridge student Matthew Delgado, who was one of a handful of CSU students who went on hunger strike this year in protest of the system's cuts to classes, presidential raises and hikes in tuition.

Delgado said he went to the meeting to show support for faculty and fellow students.

"I think it's horrible what (the CSU system) is doing," he said. "I'm paying higher tuition for classes that I can't even get in to. So many students are struggling."

Speaking before the board, Cal State Los Angeles student Nakia Brazie, 26, urged the new presidents to donate their raises in the form of student scholarships.

"I feel this affects me personally as a student," she said. "They're using funds for raises and taking away from our education."

In addition to the vote on salary packages, the board's finance committee discussed options in anticipation of a possible $250 million mid-year "trigger" cut in state funding. The CSU will likely see the trigger cut if voters don't approve Gov. Jerry Brown's November tax initiative designed to help fund public education.

The board is considering two main options: one that relies on a tuition hike to help maintain enrollment numbers, and another that avoids a tuition increase in favor of cuts to enrollment for thousands of students and hundreds of employee layoffs.

Under the tuition increase option, the board in September would approve a 5 percent tuition hike for the spring 2013 semester. The increase would amount to an extra $150 per semester for full-time undergraduates.

The plan would also include a 2 percent system-wide reduction in employee pay and benefits and a 9 percent increase in tuition for out-of-state and international students.

The second option would maintain current tuition prices but would cut enrollment by about 1.5 percent, forcing the CSU to turn away about 6,000 prospective students. Under this plan the CSU would lay off 750 employees and enact a 5.25 percent reduction in employee salaries and benefits.

Speaking before trustees, CSU Assistant Vice Chancellor Robert Turnage noted the grim choices under both options, especially the hundreds of layoffs.

"These are real people with real jobs who would no longer be working," he said. "That is not a place we want to go."

The board didn't indicate in which direction it was leaning on the issue, but Reed has said he supports increasing tuition over cutting enrollment.

CSU officials said the cuts are necessary to offset massive losses in state funding. If the $250 million mid-year cut becomes a reality this year, the system will have lost nearly $1.2 billion, or 39 percent of its state funding, since 2007.

The board is expected to make a final decision when it meets again in September.